Ms Justice Mary Irvine heard in the High Court yesterday that Eamonn Fitzgerald (right) was attempting to restrain a man outside a Cork flat when he was thrown over the man's shoulder.

Mr Fitzgerald (59), now retired, of Glanmire Court, Cork, had landed on steps, injuring his neck and left arm and shoulder. He had been attempting to pull the man off a colleague, who had been pinned to the ground when he was suddenly thrown over the man's shoulder.

He told a garda compensation hearing in the High Court that he and Garda Oliver O'Sullivan had seen a stolen motorbike partly hidden in trees at York Terrace in Cork and were attempting to arrest a man who had admitted possession of it.

The left hand-dominant garda said that as a result of his injuries he had been in hospital for a week and had missed work for a period of six weeks. The incident occurred in July 2001.